On the TV show Suits, the firm Pearson Hardman has a strict rule that they only hire associates who are Harvard law graduates. How realistic is this? Is it common for companies to enforce this standard? There are few doors that a Harvard law degree doesn't open for you, even the oval office. Although the opportunities for Ivy League law graduates may seem endless for those of us with less elite pedigree, there is one law firm that won't even consider hiring these people. In a blog post published this week in The Huffington Post, Adam Leitman, attorney and founding partner of the Adam Leitman real estate law firm Bailey, P, C.
Instead, Leitman hires from, “the best of classes in second, third or fourth level law schools. He finds that these graduates are, “more ambitious and more hungry to excel in the legal profession. And that: “They are very hardworking and, in general, grew up with a middle or lower class education. Another problem Leitman has with pursuing students from the most elite law schools is that the students in these schools have all the power once they have secured summer associate positions at large law firms.
Of course, it's not entirely clear what came first, Leitman's aversion to Ivy League graduates or his disdain for Leitman. In the post, he also admits: “The best students at these law schools have no interest in applying for a job at our firm. Pearson Hardman had a policy of hiring only associates who graduated from HLS. After the company became known as Pearson Specter, the rule was waived for Rachel Zane, and eventually abolished when Harvey Specter became managing partner of Pearson Specter Litt.
Is there a law firm that only hires Harvard? For example, BigLaw firms like Wachtell or Cravath hire *almost* exclusively Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and some law graduates from Columbia and New York University, and some investment banks and other financial firms hire only at Harvard, Wharton, and Princeton (or any combination of the three). Third, no matter how mediocre the student's performance, statistics show that almost every major law firm offers all summer associates full-time jobs. In a blog post published this week in The Huffington Post, Adam Leitman, lawyer and founding partner of the real estate law firm Adam Leitman Bailey, P. Fourth, these students can become justices of the Supreme Court of the United States or a future president of the United States, so the theory politics and international law and classes on capital punishment can be extremely important to them.
If you can't get good grades as a law student, your credibility as a lawyer becomes quite low. But in terms of judging how serious law school is and how much aptitude it demonstrates for the practice of law, qualifications are generally the most important criteria that firms use in hiring law students. A large law firm is still considered a small company by most standards, and even the largest are only a medium-sized company by most other standards. Law Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for legal professionals, students, and others with experience or interest in law.
The premise of the TV show Suits is based on a New York law firm so elitist that it only hires Harvard Law School graduates and rejects all other applications. They have been forced to compete against their peers to rank at the top of their law and university classes. This model appeals to most motivated law students, but especially lower to middle class students who are not going to let anything stand in the way of achieving financial success. .
